THE QUEEN
Written by
Peter Morgan
1.
ARCHIVE TELEVISION FOOTAGE
It's Election Day 1997. Up and down the country, the PEOPLE
OF BRITAIN, people of all shapes and sizes and denominations,
black and white, young and old, are going to the Polls.
Everyone, that is, except the people that live in...
EXT. BUCKINGHAM PALACE - DAY
The most instantly recognisable Palace in the world.
The Royal Standard, (the flag of heraldic lions and symbolic
harp-strings that signals the Monarch's presence), flutters

on the roof.
INT. BUCKINGHAM PALACE - CHINESE ROOM DAY
We're in a state room at Buckingham Palace. A TV plays in the
corner..
COMMENTARY
..here's Tony Blair, just 43 years
old, arriving at the polling station
of his constituency in Sedgefield.."
QUEEN ELIZABETH II, wearing formal robes of the Garter, is
posing for an official portrait by an elderly black PORTRAIT
ARTIST, (representative, one assumes, of one of the many
Charities of which she is patron)..
ELIZABETH
Have you voted yet, Mr Crawford?
ARTIST
(proudly dabbing palette)

Yes, Ma'am. I was there when they
opened. First in line. Seven o'clock.
COMMENTARY
If he wins, he'll be the youngest
Prime Minister in almost two hundred
years.."
He straightens..
ARTIST
And I don't mind telling you, it
wasn't for Mr Blair.
ELIZABETH
Not a moderniser, then?
ARTIST
Certainly not. We're in danger of
losing too much that's good about this
country as it is.
TV COMMENTARY

"The only questions that still remain:
how big will his landslide be? And how
extensive, how sweeping will the
modernisation programme be that he
ushers in?"
ELIZABETH
Hmm.
The QUEEN watches as he paints..
ELIZABETH
I rather envy you being able to vote.
(a beat)
Not the actual ticking of the box,
although, I suppose, it would be nice
to experience that ONCE.
(a beat)
But the sheer joy of being partial.
ARTIST
Yes..

The ARTIST squints as he scrutinises the canvass..
ARTIST
One forgets that as Sovereign, you are
not entitled to vote.
ELIZABETH
No.
ARTIST
Still, you won't catch me feeling
sorry for you. You might not be
allowed to vote, Ma'am..
(a beat)
But it IS your Government.
ELIZABETH
Yes.
The QUEEN raises her eyebrow..
ELIZABETH
I suppose that is some consolation.
FADE TO BLACK:

3.
INT. BUCKINGHAM PALACE - QUEEN'S BEDROOM - DAY
The QUEEN's face. Fast asleep. It's shortly before 8.00 am.
Daylight filters through the curtains. As does something
else..
The stirring sound of bagpipes..
EXT. BUCKINGHAM PALACE - INNER COURTYARD - DAY
The inner courtyard of Buckingham Palace. In a ritual
unchanged since Queen Victoria, a uniformed PIPER, wearing a
kilt of Ancient Hunting Stuart tartan, marches under her
Majesty's windows, playing the bagpipes.
t's her morning alarm call, and it's the way she wakes up
wherever she is - anywhere in the world.

INT. BUCKINGHAM PALACE - QUEEN'S BEDROOM - DAY
Darkness. A soft knock at the door. (The strains of bagpipes
can still be heard from below). Her Majesty's DRESSER sticks
her head round the corner, with a calling tray of Earl Grey
tea and the newspapers.
MAID
G'morning, Ma'am.
The DRESSER puts the tea and newspapers on a bedside table.
DRESSER
Shall I draw the curtains?
The QUEEN's sleepy voice answers..`Please'. The DRESSER goes
to the window.
ELIZABETH (O.S)
Did you stay up?
DRESSER
Yes, Ma'am.
ELIZABETH (O.S)

And? Was it as expected..?
The QUEEN's hand reaches for spectacles, then for the
newspapers. She puts on her glasses.
RESSER
Yes, Ma'am. Mr Blair, by a landslide.
The QUEEN's expression changes..
4.
ELIZABETH
I see.
She lifts the newspaper up. The front page comes into sharp
focus.
FULL FRAME: the beaming smile of TONY BLAIR, the new Prime
Minister. The QUEEN stares back. Their eyes meet - as it
were. Headlines tell us..
"IT'S BLAIR!", "LANDSLIDE VICTORY FOR BLAIR".

INT. BUCKINGHAM PALACE - BREAKFAST ROOM - DAY
The QUEEN sits at breakfast. Reading the newspapers. Dogs
under the table. A knock on the door, and ROBIN JANVRIN,
(40's), her deputy Private Secretary, pops around..
JANVRIN
The Prime Minister is on his way,
Ma'am.
ELIZABETH
To BE, Robin.
(correcting, terse)
Prime Minister to BE.
The QUEEN frostily flicks a page, without looking up..
ELIZABETH (cont'd)
He hasn't asked my permission yet.
INT. BUCKINGHAM PALACE - CORRIDOR - DAY
The QUEEN and JANVRIN walk through a corridor of the Palace.
It has the air of a grand hotel. Chintz. Flock. Long, gilded

mirrors. Portraits on the walls..
ELIZABETH
He's a hard one to read, isn't he?
JANVRIN
Yes. On the one hand his background is
quite establishment. Father a
Conservative. A public school
education at Fettes, where he was
tutored by the same man as the Prince
of Wales.
ELIZABETH
Well, we'll try not to hold that
against him.
5.
JANVRIN

On the other, his manifesto promises
the most radical modernisation and
shake-up of the Constitution in three
hundred years.
ELIZABETH
Oh. Is he going to `modernise' us, do
you think?
JANVRIN
I wouldn't put it past him. He's
married to a woman with known anti-
Monarchist sympathies - you may
remember her curtsey the first time
you met. It could best be described as
`shallow'.
ELIZABETH
I don't measure the depth of a
curtsey, Robin. I leave that to my
sister.

JANVRIN
And I spoke to the Cabinet Secretary
who said he was expecting the
atmosphere at Downing Street to be
very informal. Everyone on first name
terms.
(a beat)
At the Prime Minister's insistence.
ELIZABETH
What? As in `Call me Tony?'
JANVRIN
Yes.
The QUEEN's face puckers in distaste..
ELIZABETH
Oh. I'm not sure I like the sound of
that.
(a beat)
Have we sent him a protocol sheet?

EXT. MALL - DAY
ARCHIVE FOOTAGE: as TONY BLAIR's motorcade drives down the
MALL.
EXT. BUCKINGHAM PALACE - DAY
The motorcade sweeps into the grand, inner quadrangle of
Buckingham Palace, and stops at the King's door.
6.
INT. CAR - DAY
Three secret service BODYGUARDS leap out and open the car
doors. TONY looks out at the palace..
TONY
Funny, I'm actually rather nervous.
HERIE

hy? You've met her often enough
before.
TONY
I know. But never one to one. And
never as Prime Minister.
CHERIE
Remember, you're a man that's just
been elected by the whole country.
T
TONY
Yes. But she's still, y'know..
TONY looks up at the vast palace in front of him..
TONY
The Queen.
INT. BUCKINGHAM PALACE - CORRIDOR/STAIRCASE - DAY
A uniformed EQUERRY leads TONY and CHERIE through corridors,
and up a grand staircase..

EQUERRY
When we reach the audience room, I
will knock. We will not wait to be
called, we will go straight inside.
Standing by the door, we bow. From the
neck. I will introduce you. The Queen
will extend her hand, you go to her,
bow again, then shake her hand.
TONY shoots his cuffs, `Right', clears his throat.
QUERRY (cont'd)
Couple of other things. It's `Ma'am'
as in ham, not Ma'am as in farm.
TONY
Yes..
EQUERRY
And when you're in the Presence, at no
point must you show your back.

7.
TONY
The `Presence'?
EQUERRY
Yes, Sir. That's what it's called,
when you're in her Majesty's company.
TONY turns, shoots a look at CHERIE, who sticks her fingers
down her throat. TONY smiles back..
The EQUERRY reaches a grand door, and knocks gently. Without
waiting for a reply, he enters..
CHERIE is left in the corridor. Alone. She stares at a
liveried FOOTMAN.
He stares back. No life behind his eyes. CHERIE takes a seat
on a chair. Eyes widen to herself.
INT. BUCKINGHAM PALACE - AUDIENCE ROOM - DAY

ELIZABETH
How lovely. Such a blessing. Children.
The QUEEN and TONY take their seats..
ELIZABETH
So..Have we shown you how to start a
nuclear war yet?
8.
TONY
(thrown)
No.
ELIZABETH
First thing we do, I believe.
a beat)
Then we take your passport and spend
the rest of the time sending you

around the world.
TONY
You obviously know my job better than
I do.
ELIZABETH
Well, you are my tenth Prime Minister,
Mr Blair. I'd like to think there
weren't too many surprises left. My
first was Winston Churchill. He sat in
your chair, in frock coat and top hat,
and was kind enough to give a shy
T
young girl like me quite an education.
TONY
I can imagine.
ELIZABETH
ith time, one has hopefully added
experience to that education, and a